UK printer market buoyant

Reseller sales outstrip those in Germany and France as multifunction devices gain popularity

Sales of printers to end-users rocketed by 21.5 per cent from October 2002 to the same month in 2003, and revenues rose by 17.8 per cent, according to research by analyst Context.

The firm measured sales by resellers in Germany, the UK and France, and found that the UK performed best out of the three countries.

Sales of all-in-one bubblejets made up 24.3 per cent of printers shipped in October 2003, while stand-alone inkjet sales made up 59.1 per cent of the market, down from 72.1 per cent in October 2002.

"There has been extreme growth in printers for us in 2003," said Alex Ward, business director for printing at Midwich.

"The MFP [multifunction printer] market has a good breadth and range of price points, but the SME sector has been the most interesting part of the market."

Vendors said the growth of all-in-one inkjet printers was not hitting business sales of other types of printer.

"We are seeing enterprises going in the direction of specialist products for specific functions rather than all-in-ones," said Graham Lowes, marketing manager at OKI Systems.

"For example, toner fax products get very little publicity; it's a flat yet consistent market." Lowes added that companies still want backup devices.

Jeremy Davies, managing director of Context, said: "The increase in all-in-one bubblejet sales started a year or so ago. Growth in this area is steaming ahead. Low cost and high functionality are the drivers."

Tracey Rawling-Church, marketing manager at Kyocera Mita UK, said: "We don't see all-in-one inkjets eroding our entry-level laser printer market.

"There is a huge gulf between these devices, which are aimed at small office/home office users, and departmental-level MFPs, where we are increasing market share. That market is not growing at any great rate, however."

Davies agreed. "The technology in laser all-in-ones is more expensive," he said. "There has been a push on inkjets because of the low cost and the chance to sell more consumables."